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As promised, I will relay my dad’s story about Hurricane Sandy from his perspective. He lives in Mid-town Manhattan, about 0.75 miles inland from the eastern edge of the Island. Now, onto the story.

As you all know, Sandy made landfall around Atlantic City on Monday, October 29th around 8PM EST. Now, my dad told me that around 4PM, things weren’t really all that bad in NYC and that many people were actually down watching the waves on the eastern shore at that time. He went down to take a look as well and said that the water at that time was at least a foot below the seawall. There were police officers there that were telling people to leave and that a curfew was in effect. They were told to return to their homes for the night.

The winds really picked up after 8 or 9 PM that night and the surge and coastal flooding were significant. This storm did a number on NYC. The next morning, my dad was able to get out of the apartment for a little while and the damage he saw was unbelievable. He lives about 3 blocks from the Con Edison Power Plant and he ventured down to try and get an idea of when the power would be back on. He overheard a police officer talking to one of the ConEd workers and the worker said that the entire lower levels of the plant were flooded with over 4 feet of water. The man thought that power might not be returned to customers for over a week. Fortunately, power was back on within 4 days.

After that, he decided to head back to where he was the day before, down by the eastern shore and the damage was very bad. In NYC, 1st Avenue is about 0.25 miles inland from the eastern shore. My dad tells me that he saw cars moved all the way up to 1st Avenue. Many were smashed and packed together and many of the wooden piers from the edge of the shoreline were on top of the cars. One man, whose Mustang is in the picture that I posted, said that he hadn’t even parked his car near where it ended up. He’d parked it almost 100 yards from where it was that morning. To make matters worse, two large wooden piers were on top of his Mustang, in effect, totaling his car. That can give witness to the tremendous power of water. In fact, just one foot of moving water can sweep you off your feet.

This storm wasn’t bad for the rainfall in NYC, but for the high winds and coastal flooding and storm surge that it brought with it. There are many other stories, but my dad’s is just one of them. NYC will need to be better prepared for coastal flooding and surge in the future, or it could be much worse next time this happens.

For next time, I will talk about the Blizzard unfolding in the Northern Plains and the unseasonably mild weather for the Midwest this weekend.

Sorry I didn’t get a post up yesterday. I will keep this one brief, but I will return tonight and I promise I’ll have something up for next weeks possible Nor’easter.

The death toll has risen to 165 in the Caribbean and Canada including the United States. 96 total deaths have been confirmed in the U.S. It is truly sad to see this, but thanks to many of the actions taken before the storm to evacuate and protect property, that number could have certainly been higher.

Wow. I don’t even know where to begin. Let me start by saying this: Despite the fact that Hurricane Sandy has transitioned to an extra-tropical cyclone,meaning it has gone from a warm core barotropic cyclone (a cyclone characterized by a lack of fronts) to a cold core baroclinic cyclone (a cyclone characterized by distinct airmasses or fronts), it is still a very powerful storm with life-threatening impacts. This is simply a scientific classification; Sandy is still as strong as it was when it made landfall. However, expect continued weakening over the next 24-36 hours. For more info on that, check out this link: http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/49/

Onto the impacts: Take this into perspective. The pressure differences between where I am in Bloomington Indiana and where Sandy is, have created wind gusts of up to 50 mph. Waves on Lake Michigan are expected to climb to nearly 25 feet in Porter and Lake County Indiana. This storm is nearly 800 miles away, but its impacts are even being felt in Northern and Central Indiana.

The next thing of note is the countless reports of damage and destruction so far. From the sound of it, New York City has been hit very hard. In the morning, when the sun rises, we will have a better idea of how bad the damage is. And let me say this: It will be very bad. Flooding of the MTA Subway system and throughout lower Manhattan has been historic. Compared to Hurricane Donna of 1960, the crest of the water levels is almost 4 feet higher, shattering the old record of 10 feet. One thing I read about on Twitter this evening, mentioned how social media is affected our ability to relay information much better than we could during Katrina. Katrina was all the way back in 2005, when Facebook was still just a baby. This ability to spread and distribute vital information and news on the current state of damage is very important. It is without a doubt saving lives. Continue to spread word and get any images that you have of damage or flooding, but please do it safely.

Continue to ride this storm out and stay safe. I will have more updates on damage and impacts in the morning. I am sure there will be a lot of information when the sun comes up.

This afternoon, Hurricane Sandy has a minimum central pressure of 940mb and sustained winds of 90 mph. It has begun it’s northwestward and eventually westward path into southern New Jersey. Over 60 million people will be affected by this storm, and from the reports of damage and flooding coming in out of Atlantic City, this hurricane could be one of the costliest and most devastating hurricanes to make landfall on the eastern seaboard. Sandy will make landfall this evening. Flooding, surge, and hurricane force winds will be the major factors with this storm. If you have not evacuated, please be safe and hunker down for the long haul tonight. This is a dangerous storm. I will be back with updates tonight following the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.

The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center has this to say about the impacts that Hurricane Sandy poses to the Eastern Seaboard. “Sandy is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge to the Long Island Sound and the Island of Manhattan…Hurricane force winds and coastal flooding is imminent.” Make no mistake, this storm is being hyped quite a bit by the media, but the National Hurricane Center is serious on this situation as well, so taking the necessary actions and precautions is very important. Now is the time to make a decision. If you live in a low-lying coastal area that is prone to storm surge and flooding, You must move to higher ground if you are in these areas.

Without a doubt, Hurricane Sandy is a powerful storm that will certainly pose a threat to life and property. The most important thing here is to stay calm and get prepared for this storm. Landfall is expected late on Monday night and the track of this storm is beginning to narrow in on southern New Jersey/northern Delaware. The wind field of Sandy is very large, so as I mentioned in Part I, the location of landfall is important, but given the size of this storm, impacts will be widespread and felt through the entire upcoming week.

The maximum winds are at 75mph and the storm surge is expected to be up to 10 feet over parts of Long Island Sound and New York Harbor. With Sandy likely making landfall over southern New jersey, that would force the highest surge and waters into New York Harbor. That being said, flooding is likely in Manhattan and low lying areas.

If you are riding this storm out and many people will be, please be prepared for this storm and have a plan. I will have more updates and details as they develop over the next 24 hours. Keep an eye out for more posts on Hurricane Sandy.